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Arts drive small-town economies

The NY Times reported on efforts to use arts to revitalize Texas’ smaller cities, the subject of the Texas Cultural Trust’s stimulus-funded report, “The Art of Economic Development,” which was released recently. The report uses arts activity in Amarillo, El Paso, Clifton, Texarkana and Rockport as a model for art-driven economic development. Clifton gallerist Smokey Kettler gave the skeptical view from Main St. saying, "you can’t eat it, and you can’t put it in your gas tank.”